Her Accomplishments Are Just Beginning

August 16, 1986|by CHRIS LINDSLEY, The Morning Call

Trisha Hessinger of Allentown is a professional figure skater, but she will be turning ovals of a different kind tomorrow just before the start of the Domino's Pizza 500 at Pocono International Raceway.

Hessinger is one of eight women race drivers who make up the eight-car Pittsburgh Paints Pace Car Team, and she will be out on the track playing an important role in the successful start of tomorrow's race.

The pace cars, built by PPG in cooperation with the four major U.S. automakers, are worth between $500,000 and $2.2 million. Mistakes at those prices would prove extremely costly to PPG, and no one knows that any better than Hessinger.

"With the cars costing that much," she said, "I don't think they'd just pick anyone off the street to drive them. They wanted qualified drivers."

Hessinger herself has raced for three years, and in her first two races in Formula Fords, she finished second. Her accomplishments, though, are just the beginning. Kathy Rude-Heimrath, for instance, became the first woman to win a professional road race in America in 1982, while Margie Smith-Haas was the only women driver competing in the 24 Hours of LeMans in both 1984 and '85. Another member of the team, Lyn St. James, became the fastest woman racer in history last year as she went 204.223 mph around the Alabama International Motor Speedway in her Ford Probe GTP. And Desire Wilson, who has competed in both Indy Cars and Formula One, became the first woman to win a Formula One race - at Brand's Hatch in 1980 - and she also is the holder of the fastest time at Indianapolis by a woman driver, with a lap of 193 mph in 1982.

Four years ago, Hessinger thought the only competitions she'd be entering would be held on ice. All of that changed, however, after she bought a new car she couldn't handle.

"I bought a Porsche 911, and my friends told me if I didn't learn how to drive it right I'd kill myself," Hessinger said. "So I went to the Skip Barber Racing School, and the instructors really encouraged me to try racing. I did, and I got second place in my first two Formula Ford races."

She had never been in a race car until February of 1983, and yet she won a race and finished eighth in the Formula Ford point standings while "competing against about 100 men," during her rookie season.

Hessinger, who said she's finished in the top four in 90 percent of her races, said Formula Fords are just the beginning. The 24 Hours of LeMans and the Indianapolis 500 are two of her long-term goals, and she said it's just a matter of time until she moves up into racing's big leagues.

"If anything I don't think I've been in a race car that's challenged me enough yet," Hessinger said. "I think I'd be an excellent endurance driver, and I think I'd be good at 500 mile races as well. I haven't done much professional racing, but I'll get there."

She has done a lot of skating, and she says her on-ice talents have made the transition to auto racing much easier.

"I think my figure skating has been a real asset because I'm very fine- tuned with balance," Hessinger said, "and balance is such a big part of skating that it's carried over into racing."

Racing has always been a male-dominated sport, and while she said that fact gives her a better chance to succeed behind the wheel, she added that the all women pace car team proves women have what it takes to be successful.

"If you have the ability as a driver and you're a woman, you're much more marketable," Hessinger said. "It's really an asset because you can do more for a sponsor that a male driver of equal ability can do. The fact that it's an all-female pace car team really brings women in racing some attention. We want to encourage more people to do it because there's certainly nothing male or female about driving ability."

Tomorrow's race will only be Hessinger's second pace car performance, and while she said her duties on the track are not too strenuous, the pressure is intense.

"It's not hard as far as what you actually have to do (to start the race)," she said. "But there's a lot of pressure on you because this is televised, this is PPG's showcase, and if something screws up, you want to make sure its the least obvious thing, and we're responsible for that. For instance, a pace car could get a flat tire, and it's up to us to handle that. That's where being a race driver can be a real advantage. If you have a tire blow when you're racing, you better know what to do with the car."